Compiled by Alex Pena ~ ‘Catalyst’: “to spark, to ignite, energize, mobilize; something that accelerates a reaction (DDI)." Thought-provoking & motivational quotes and stories for you to read, reflect on and move forward in making creative and positive changes in your life.

Archive for the category “Courage”

“A book is made from a tree. It is an assemblage of flat, flexible parts (still called “leaves”) imprinted with dark pigmented squiggles. One glance at it and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, the author is speaking, clearly and silently, inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people, citizens of distant epochs, who never knew one another. Books break the shackles of time ― proof that humans can work magic.” (Carl Sagan)

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“I read a book one day and my whole life was changed.” (Orhan Pamuk, The New Life)

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“All the secrets of the world are contained in books. Read at your own risk.” (Lemony Snicket)

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“Reading is like thinking, like praying, like talking to a friend, like expressing your ideas, like listening to other people’s ideas, like listening to music, like looking at the view, like taking a walk on the beach.” (Roberto Bolaño, 2666)

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“’Life is a book, and there are a thousand pages I have not read. I would read them together with you, as many as I can, before I die …’

She put her hand against his chest, just over his heart, and felt its beat against her palm, a unique time signature that was all its own.

‘I only wish you would not speak of dying,’ she said. ‘But even for that, yes, I know how you are with your words, and, Will – I love all of them. Every word you say. The silly ones, the mad ones, the beautiful ones, and the ones that are only for me. I love them, and I love you.’” (Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Princess)

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“A library is a place where you can lose your innocence without losing your virginity.” (Germaine Greer)

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“People can lose their lives in libraries. They ought to be warned.” (Saul Bellow)

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“The only way to do all the things you’d like to do is to read.” (Tom Clancy)

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“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” (C.S. Lewis)

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”Do not read, as children do, to amuse yourself, or like the ambitious, for the purpose of instruction. No, read in order to live.” (Gustave Flaubert)

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“Why can’t people just sit and read books and be nice to each other?” (David Baldacci, The Camel Club)

“If you listen to your fears, you will die never knowing what a great person you might have been.” (Robert Schuller)

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“You always do what you want to do. This is true with every act. You may say that you had to do something, or that you were forced to but actually, whatever you do, you do by choice.

Only you have the power to choose for yourself.” (W. Clement Stone)

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“Each day we wake in the morning with a thought in our minds. This thought, whatever it may be, sets the tone for the rest of the day. This is not always a good thing as we may wake up in a rush for work or school, with a hangover, feeling depressed or generally in a state of confusion

Therefore, it is a good idea to learn how to create an original thought to begin each day, and to make the day a perfect expression of your original thought.” (The Tibetan Art of Positive Thinking)

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“Be great in little things.” (St. Francis Xavier)

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“Be great in little things, and you will be given opportunity to do big things.” (Richard Shivers)

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“When we accept small wonders, we qualify ourselves to imagine great wonders.” (Tom Robbins)

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“Each child can always teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires.” (Paulo Coelho, The Fifth Mountain)

“Why abandon a belief merely because it eases to be true.Cling to it long enough, and not a doubt it will turn true again, for so it goes.Most of the change we think we see in life is due to truths being in and out of favor.” (Robert Frost)

“Forget self-esteem. You need self-compassion.

Self-esteem has long been considered the bedrock of individual success. But high self-esteem many not be all that it’s cracked up to be. Thinking you’re great (which of course you are) comes with pressure to live up to your self-image. You may live in quiet terror of making mistakes, and even worse, feel devastated when you do. When faced with a challenge, you don’t need to believe in your own brilliance as much as you need to confront your flaws head on. Develop self-compassion, a willingness to look at your own shortcomings with kindness and understanding. With a realistic sense of your abilities and actions, you can figure out what needs to be done differently next time. Being perfect doesn’t lead to success, but being able to avoid the same mistake does.” (“To Succeed, Forget Self-Esteem” by Heidi Grant Halvorson, Harvard Business Management Blog, 1.12.13)

“Control your own destiny or someone else will.” (Jack Welch)

“You’re braver than you believe, and stronger that you seem, and smarter than you think.” (A. A. Milne)

That’s why.” (Robert Brault, Round Up the Usual Subjects, Thoughts on Just About Everything)

“Do more than belong: participate. Do more than care: help. Do more than believe: practice. Do more than be fair: be kind. Do more than forgive: forget. Do more than dream: work.” (William A. Ward)

“Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy.” (Thomas Merton)

“Whatever you do, live a life of adventure and meaning so brilliant that, like a Roman candle, it lights up the world. Dazzle us. Astonish us. Be extraordinary.” (President George H.W. Bush, UT Commencement address, 1990)

“There is always a new chapter in life. You ride into the sunset and discover it’s the sunrise.” (Robert Brault, Round Up the Usual Subjects, Thoughts on Just About Everything)

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“Don’t be afraid of your fears. They’re not there to scare you. They’re there to let you know that something is worth it.” (C. JoyBell C.)

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“It is said that you only get one life. Truth is, you only get one birth and one death. How many lives you squeeze in is up to you.” (Robert Brault, Reflections)

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“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” (Desmond Tutu)

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“When I was young, my ambition was to be one of the people who made a difference in this world. My hope is to leave the world a little better for having been there.” (Jim Henson)

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“Life becomes easier and more beautiful when we can see the good in other people.” (Roy T. Bennett)

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“You have to believe. Otherwise, it will never happen.” (Neil Gaiman, Stardust)

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“To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.” (Mahatma Gandhi)

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“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it – always.” (Mahatma Gandhi)

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“Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.” (Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart)

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“Don’t go on discussing what a good person should be. Just be one.” (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations)

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“You think about 60,000 thoughts a day. It’s up to you to make sure that you don’t use up 59,999 of them with negative, cynical thinking.

So next time, before you start to think something negative, just think about that … and this: Your brain has 1000 billion cells – and each of these little babies is connected to at least 20,000 other cells. The variety of potential combinations of all these is more multitudinous than the number of molecules existing in the entire universe! So, if you have that many different combinations of brain cells to choose from, why not try a new combo today? (Karen Salmansohn, how to be HAPPY, dammit, a cynic’s guide to spiritual happiness)

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“The mind is everything. What you think, you become.” (Gautama Buddha)

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“Between stimulus and response there is space.In that space is our power to choose our response.In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” (Viktor Frankl)

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“Your mind will believe comforting lies while also knowing the painful truths that make those lies necessary. And your mind will punish you for believing both.” (Patrick Ness, A Monster Calls)

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“I’ve experienced many terrible things in my life, a few of which actually happened.” (Unknown Author)

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“People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

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“We aren’t who we want to be. We are what society demands. We are what our parents choose. We don’t want to disappoint anyone. So, we smother the best in us.” (Paulo Coelho)

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“The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your destiny.” (Albert Einstein)

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“He who knows others is learned. He who knows himself is wise.” (Lao Tzu)

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“You must give everything to make your life as beautiful as the dreams that dance in your imagination.” (Roman Payne)

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“Other people will edit you your whole life. They’ll take what you say and keep the bits they like and throw away the rest. Don’t edit yourself.” (I Wrote This for You)

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“Soar above the worries of daily life and explore the other possibilities that abound. Knock and new doors will open. Find, and quench your thirst for seeking.” (Vikram Joshi, The Alchemy of The Soul)

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“Our secret life is where we are able to tap into the power of the four human endowments: self-awareness, conscience, imagination, and independent will. It is the part of you where you decide the most fundamental issues of your life. As the psalmist put it: ‘Search your own heart with all diligence, for out of it flows the issues of your life.’ It truly is a secret life. No one knows the thoughts and intents of your heart. You alone have that awareness, and you can step in on your own deep inner life; you can examine, explore, and change it. Many people, unless they are in pain because of something they care about that is not being fulfilled, will not go into their deep inner life at all. In a sense, they’re not living. They’re just being lived, publicly and privately.” (Stephen R. Covey, How to Develop Your Personal Mission Statement)

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“Order is not enough. You can’t just be stable, and secure, and unchanging, because there are still vital and important new things to be learned. Nonetheless, chaos can be too much. You can’t long tolerate being swamped and overwhelmed beyond your capacity to cope while you are learning what you still need to know. Thus, you need to place one foot in what you have mastered and understood and the other in what you are currently exploring and mastering. Then you have positioned yourself where the terror of existence is under control and you are secure, but where you are also alert and engaged. That is where there is something new to master and some way that you can be improved. That is where meaning is to be found.” (Jordan B. Peterson, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos)

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“If you live the same day, week, or year that you have always lived, your life will never get any better. Let yourself actually live. Fix what is broken in your life. Explore what you have left unexplored. Find the discomfort of the new and embrace it. Enjoy all that life has to offer.” (Avina Celeste)

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“At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope it can be done, then they see it can be done – then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago.” (Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden)

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“Life is short. The world is big. It awaits your exploration. If you’re not living on the edge, you’re just taking up way too much space.” (Paul Beaver, Diary of an Amazon Jungle Guide: Amazing Encounters with Tropical Nature and Culture)

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“You might as well answer the door, my child . . . the truth is furiously knocking.” (Lucille Clifton, Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir 1969-1980)

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“I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.” (Mary Oliver, New and Selected Poems)

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“There are things knownand there are things unknownand in between are the doors.” (Jim Morrison, Letters from Joe)

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“If you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.” (Joseph Campbell)

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“Each person comes into this world with a specific destiny — he has something to fulfill, some message has to be delivered, some work has to be completed. You are not here accidentally — you are here meaningfully. There is a purpose behind you. The whole intends to do something through you.” (Osho)

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“People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.” (Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist)

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“You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.” (Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft)

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“I believe life is constantly testing us for our level of commitment, and life’s greatest rewards are reserved for those who demonstrate a never-ending commitment to act until they achieve. This level of resolve can move mountains, but it must be constant and consistent. As simplistic as this may sound, it is still the common denominator separating those who live their dreams from those who live in regret.” (Anthony Robbins)

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What, exactly, should you do now? You can choose to lead, or not. You can choose to have faith, or not. Are there thousands of reasons why you, of all people, aren’t the right one to lead? Why you don’t have the resources or the authority or the genes or the momentum to lead?Probably. So what? You still get to make the choice. But once you choose to lead, you’ll discover that it’s not so difficult.” (Seth Godin, Tribes – We Need YOU to Lead Us)

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“You just do it. You force yourself to get up. You force yourself to put one foot before the other, and God damn it, you just refuse to let it get to you. You fight. You cry. You curse. Then you go about the business of living. That’s how I’ve done it. There’s no other way.” (Elizabeth Taylor)

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“If you’re going to have a story, have a big story.” (Joseph Campbell, The Storyteller’s Secret)

“Your intentions create the reality that you experience.” (Gary Zukav)

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“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” (Dr. Seuss)

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“The Little Boy and the Old Man

Said the little boy, ‘Sometimes I drop my spoon.’Said the old man, ‘I do that too.’The little boy whispered, ‘I wet my pants.’‘I do that too,’ laughed the little old man.Said the little boy, ‘I often cry.’The old man nodded, ‘’So do I.’‘But worst of all,’ said the boy, ‘”it seemsGrown-ups don’t pay attention to me.’And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand.‘I know what you mean,’ said the little old man.’” (Shel Silverstein)

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“to live in this world

you must be ableto do three thingsto love what is mortal;to hold it

against your bones knowingyour own life depends on it;and, when the time comes to let it go,to let it go.” (Mary Oliver, New and Selected Poems, Volume One)

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“life’s not a paragraphAnd death i think is no parenthesis” (e. e. cummings)

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“Once we rid ourselves of traditional thinking, we can get on with creating the future.” (James Bertrand)

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“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

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“If you wish others to believe in you, you must convince them that you believe in them.” (Harvey McKay)

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“The deepest principle of human nature is a craving to be appreciated.” (William James)

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“What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

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“They call it coaching, but it is teaching. You do not just tell them … you show them the reasons.” (Vince Lombardi)

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“Everything in business comes down to PEOPLE. Where in business can we escape the impact of human care, human creativity, human commitment, human frustration, and human despair? There is no reason for anything in business to exist if it does not serve the needs of people.” (Bruce Cryer)

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Short Course in Leadership:

1. Make a list of things done to you that you abhorred. Don’t do them to others, ever.2. Make another list of things done for you that you loved. Do them for others, always.” (Dee Hock)